Seasons 4 and 5 are the most successful for TWD so far, with season 5 taking honors for most viewers. Season 6 saw a slight drop in viewers. But season 7 saw a 20.296% drop in viewers as approximately 2.88 million fewer people tuned in to watch the show. We were introduced to Negan at the end of the season 6 finale, and the show has revolved around Negan, his brutality, attempts to humanize the demon, and failed plots to kill him since that time. All the story arcs since season 7 have revolved around the Negan issue, whereas in the two previous and more successful seasons the story was evolving along less predictable lines.

The figures for season 8 have now been posted and show another 29.98% of viewers stopped watching the show. That means since the series high water mark of 15.78 million viewers in season 5, nearly half the viewers, 49.81%, found something else to do. Those are earth shaking numbers for a hit show. And of the 7.92 million viewers watching season 8, I would venture to guess that a sizable portion of us are just hanging on hoping the show turns around. Having invested so much time in the show already, we are morbidly watching to see how it finally dies.

I wonder if the actors themselves are getting burned out on the show. I keep seeing ads running for the sequel "Fear The Walking Dead" which apparently will feature Morgan as the main protagonist. So I have to wonder, has the show focused so much attention on trying to build up the Negan issue as part of a final push which will see many of the main characters in this show killed off in a series finale? Andrew Lincoln must be getting burned out on this show by now, having done eight seasons with a ninth around the corner. He is now well enough known that he must have plenty of other interesting offers coming his way, as would many of the other main characters. Just how many years does an actor want to play a zombie killer? With viewers abandoning the show in droves, it would make sense to bring it to a close quickly. Better to go out with a bang than a whimper. If the show continues to flounder there may not be many viewers around to see it end. If I were Andrew Lincoln or any of the other mainstay characters I think I would prefer to end the series than watch it continue to bleed viewers.

Diehard TWD fans will have the spinoff to feed their habit, with at least one familiar and well liked character in Morgan, and probably at least a few more. Are they starting the spinoff now to get viewers on board before pulling the plug on the original?

I would not be surprised if season 9 is the last for TWD.